Anna Maria College

Private · Moderately Selective · MA

Photo: John Phelan (CC BY-SA 3.0)

School data & stats

TypePrivate

LocationMA · Northeast

SettingRural

Undergrads906

Student:faculty12:1

Outcomes

4-yr grad rate36.5%

6-yr grad rate46.2%

Drop-out rate39.7%

Study abroad—

Cost

In-state tuition$45k

Out-of-state tuition$45k

Application fee—

Community

Racial diversity53.2%

Gender diversity36.9%

International3.4%

IdentityRoman Catholic

Overview

Anna Maria College is a small private Catholic college in Paxton, Massachusetts, just outside Worcester, founded by the Sisters of Saint Anne. It has built an unusual identity around public-service fields — fire science, criminal justice, and emergency management — alongside nursing and music therapy.

Academics

Fire science and emergency management are genuinely distinctive undergraduate offerings rarely found at a college this size, often built around partnerships with regional public-safety agencies. Criminal justice, nursing, and music therapy round out the college's other career-focused strengths, all taught in small classes with close faculty contact.

Campus & student life

The campus is small and residential, set in a quiet central Massachusetts town a short drive from Worcester. Many students hold ties to local fire, police, or emergency-management agencies even while enrolled, blending campus life with real public-safety work.

Getting in

Admission is accessible and personal, with career-track applicants — especially in fire science and emergency management — often bringing relevant public-safety experience or intent into their applications.

After graduation

Graduates place strongly into fire departments, emergency management agencies, and criminal-justice careers across New England, an unusually direct pipeline for a small liberal-arts-adjacent college.

annamaria.edu ↗

Admissions

Acceptance rate50.3%

Enrolled mid-50%—

Test policyoptional

Rec letters0

Deadlines (2026–27 cycle)

AdmissionRolling

Applying